Ice-chamber for refrigerators.



J. BROEKEMA.

ICE CHAMBER FOR REFRIGERATORS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 15. 1911.

Patented Aug. 13, 1918. I l c 2 11v VENTOR.

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WITNESSES AT RZVEYS,

JACOB BROE KEMA, OF GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 CHALLENGE REFRIG- ERATORCOMPANY, 0F GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

ICE-CHAMBER FOR REFRIGERATORS.

y Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 13, 1918,

Application med February is, 1917. Serial No. 148,715.

To all whom it may concern:

citizen of the United States, and residing at Grand Haven, in the county of Ottawa and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Ice-Chamber for Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of the ice chambers of refrigerators and consists in so bending the metal constitutingthe main middle'portions of these chambers that leakage of water from the melted ice will be avoided without the necessity of using solder, either at the points where the metal is folded or along the surfaces where thesides are joined to the ends of the chambers.

This invention further consists in an ice chamber provided with sides and ends and a bottom having its end margins bent up to leave a. space for the warmer air to ascend,

said bottom being integral with the sides, the margins of the metal of each side adjacent the bottom being bent inwardly to form wings adapted to support the inner removable walls of the warm air flues or ducts.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a refrigerator provided with this improved ice chamber. Fig. 2 is a plan of the ice chamber. Fig. 3 is a front elevation thereof, a portion of the front wall being broken away to show the interior construction. Fig. 4 is a plan of the blank from which the major portion of the ice chamber is made. Fig. 5 is an illustrative view showing the construction of the fold of the metal at the point of connection between the flanges on the sides and bottom of the ice chamber. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of a portion of this structure.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

The details of construction of the refrigerator casing and lining and the proportions of the various parts of the ice chamber form no part of the present invention and may be varied as desired. The present invention relates merely to the details of the construction of the ice chamber and particularly to casing formed of the sides 1, bottom 2, cover .3 and lining 4. The ice chamber may be mounted in any desirable manner, strips 5 secured to the sides of the outer casing being having flanges 7 at duced as it is whenslitted deflector 29 may-be connected'to 8 of the ice chamber as an example. Similar shown supporting the flanges 7 of the ends 2 Be 11: known that I, JACOB BROEKEMA, a

stripsmay be secured to the front and back I of the casing to support the flanges 9 on the front side 10 and back side 11 of the ice chamber. I i

The ice chamber is formed by the ends 8 their upper edges, the front side 10, the back side 11, both provided with horizontal supporting flanges 9 along their upper edges, and the bottom 12 con necting the front and back sides and integral therewith. The-ends have edge flanges 13 that, lap over onto the front and back and may be secured thereto by small rivets 14, but are preferably united to these sides by spot welding.

The margins of the sheet'constituting the sides and bottom are bent to extend at right angles to the body of the sheet to form the upright flanges 16 and horizontal flanges 17. If desired, the sheet may be slitted at 18 so asto leave the ears 19 which-will remain in the same planes .as the sides 10 and 11.

.-VVhen the sheet is now bent along the lines 20 and 21, the metal'of these margins at the corners between the upri ht ,and horizontal flanges will be bent and olded, as shown at 22 in Figs. 5 and '6. This corner will there-,

fore be water-tight without the use of solder. The strength of this corner is not reand then soldered, of solder is saved. is employed in this entire andthe cost of labor and In fact, no solder construction. I

The bottom is slitted and a flange 24 is forced up, the opening formed thereby constituting the cold air flue or duct 30. A drain pipe 25 connects to thebottomat the hole 26 and conducts thewater formed by the melting ice down through the provision chamber of the refrigerator. A corrugated plate 27 having legs 28 rests on the bottom of the ice chamber and supports the ice; a this plate 27 and extend over the 'cold air flue and prevent such water as may collect on the bottom' of this plate from dripping down onto the contents of the provision chamber. Any other' desired form of support for the ice may be employed. 1

The removable inner side walls of the warm air flues consist of .flat plates 32 extending from the front 10 to the back 11 and having down turned upper edges '33 to engage the upper ends of the flanges 16 by which these walls may be supported. The horizontal flanges 17 may support the lower edges of these walls. If the ice chamber is of large size, the middle of these plates may provided with braces 34 that contact with the ends 8 of the icechamber. The warmer air rises in the lines 35 between the ends 8 and the Walls 32 and is then cooled by the ice, after which it passes down through the cold air flue.

, This structure employs a minimum of metalforthe only parts that over-lap are the edges of the flanges 13, and the ice chamber is so formed from rectangular blanks as to involve no loss of metal.

I claim 1. A sheet metal ice chamber for refrigeratorscomprising a central portion and two end portions having their edges bent at right angles and overlapping the central portion which consists of a bottom and two sides, the margins of the bottom and of the'sides next to the bottom beingunbroken and bent inwardly to constitute horizontal and upright flanges, the metal at the corners between the horizontal and upright flanges being folded to form a water-tight joint.

2. A sheet metal chamber for refrigerators comprising a central portion and two ends, the central portion consisting of a. bottom and two sides integral therewith, the upper portions of the sides extending from end to end, the margins of the lower portions of the sides and of the bottom being unbroken and bent. inwardly to constitute continuous upright and horizontal flanges, the joint at the corners between the flanges being water-tight. a

JACOB BROEKEMA. 

